From greatest hits to lowest moments, ever y thing you ever wanted to know... and a fair bit you didn’t

WORDS SAM BURNETT & GREG POTTS

IMAGES: MANUFACTURER

What’s LEVC and when did it start making cars?

LEVC was set up in 2013 by Chinese firm Geely.

Er, what? Well, we’re going to cheat here and go back to 1919, when Bobby Jones set up a coachbuilding firm in Coventry.

The name gave it away – harking back to a time when carmakers built rolling chassis for customers to add what they wanted on top, Carbodies made fancier versions of MG and Alvis cars through the Twenties. It expanded through to Rover, Railton and Rootes, even making aeroplane parts in World War Two.

Carbodies landed the deal to make the Austin FX3 taxi’s body in 1948, then the FX4 in 1958. It was sold to the BSA Group in 1954, took on full production of the FX4 in 1971 (other projects included making the bonnet for Jag’s E-type), was sold to Manganese Bronze Holdings in 1973, then took over full rights for the FX4 in 1982.

With taxis its bread and butter, Carbodies became London Taxis International in 1985. An all-new black cab, the TX1, arrived in 1997. In 2010 it was rebranded as The London Taxi Company and signed a deal with Geely for a Chinese factory for the overseas market. LTC went bust in 2012, Geely bought its assets in 2013 and kept the name going, before ditching it for the London EV Company (LEVC) badge in 2017.

LEVC’s greatest hits

01 Austin FX3 Back when LEVC was still known as Carbodies, it secured a lucrative contract to build the post-war FX3 taxi. Designed to comply with the Conditions of Fitness for London taxicabs, the FX3 was a success with over 12,000 produced.